Traitor?
by Avamys Write
Summary: Black Widow is capturing each of her team members. What will happen? Oneshot.


**A/N: I'm back! Prompts are always welcome.**

The first thing she feels is a hard kick to her stomach.

Instinctively, she curls up and reaches for a weapon…

Then she finds that she cannot move.

Her throat is raw but moist, probably bleeding, and her eyelids refuse to budge.

Her muscles are cold and aching, and there is a cramp in her neck that is growing by the second.

"Good."

She can tell that someone is walking around her, but she can't tell who.

"Where are they."

Her mind draws a blank as she tries to remember the events leading up to this.

 _What happened…?_

She tries to scream as a hot poker lashes her back, but her jaw only cracks open, no sound comes out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I too harsh on you?"

The voice is cold, just like the water that is now being forced down her throat.

She feels the burning of her throat as a pill is shoved down as well.

Swallowing, she finds that the burn has reduced to numbness.

"Now talk. Where are they?"

She rasps, her voice rusty and laced with pain.

She refuses to say a word.

The hot poker comes down again.

"Knowing you, physical pain won't do any good." the voice says. "In that case, I'll just have to press a button and bomb an orphanage."

She can't tell if he's bluffing, but she can't take the risk.

And he knows that.

"Talk."

"What?" she mumbles.

"Where are they. Where are the Infinity Stones?"

"Why ask, you'll never get it anyways."

Then she hears a scream.

A voice she _recognises_.

 _Tony._

She can practically feel the smirk radiating in waves.

"Talk."

She winces internally as another blood-curdling scream rings through the air, and nearly gasps when it fades out.

"So?"

"No one knows." she gasps.

Then an all-familiar roar and pounding pierces through the air.

" _It_ 's fine at the moment, but _it_ won't be so fine when we turn up the gamma levels."

"I don't know. No one knows where all of them are. Failsafe."

"But you do know where _some_ of them are."

She curses at the unintentional slip. Well, no point in denying it anyways, it was obvious that she knew something.

"I don't know the locations."

"But you do know who they're with."

Silence.

"I wouldn't say that."

"So, tell me. Is it the Guardians? The Warriors Three? The Collector?"

She snorts.

"Your people must be of high quality if they failed to notice an intergalactic incident."

"I must have kicked you harder than I thought if what's left of your wit has reduced to this."

The statement was one of humor, but the deadly threat underlying was not missed.

She can hear the screams and ripping sound of tearing flesh.

"Doesn't it bother you that your men are getting killed?"

She can practically hear him smile.

"Doesn't matter."

 _The casualties that will come later when I get the stones will make this operation seem like a scrape on the knee._

She mentally prepares herself as the whip comes down, the sound of the tip slashing through the air coming a split second before the pain.

"Cat got your tongue?"

This time, she doesn't budge.

When Tony screams again, she doesn't cringe.

When the Hulk smashes through more walls and the screams literally pierce through her eardrums, she stays still.

Her captor seems to understand that she won't budge.

He sighs.

"Well then, bring in the drug."

At that, she stiffens.

She struggles, but in the end the needle pierces her arm.

And as her mind goes blank, a voice drifts into her ear…

"Not as much as it is going to bother him when he comes back."

* * *

Red eyes open and blink before the normal hue settles in.

"Good. You've come back." the strange man says, rubbing his hands together, as if in glee.

"They knocked you out, beat you up, and nearly killed you. We were able to extract you before they finished you off." he said, gesturing to the image of seven people.

And strange people they were.

"It's normal for you to forget after everything that happened." the man continued. "He calls himself Iron Man. Name's Tony Stark. Billionaire. Tech and science guy. See that blue circle in the middle? That's his arc reactor."

She drones out, mentally carving the details into her memory.

"Your mission is to bring them down. Whatever means necessary. Oh, and, for some reason, they think you are one of them. A teammate."

* * *

Tony's eyes light up as she creeps around the corner, unlocking the steel door to the tiny cage he's been trapped in.

"Oh thank god." he says, coughing.

She holds back a scoff at the weakness.

"Where are the others?"

She nearly rolls her eyes at that. A chance to escape, and he'd give it all up…

"No idea." she says breathlessly. "But we have to move fast."

"Sure. You know where they kept my gear?"

"No idea. It's probably locked in some lab or trashed."

"Ha. They'll never be able to crack my code."

She doesn't think she's ever met someone that proud of himself.

"Turn around." she says.

He stares at her quizzically.

She sighs.

"I have to check for trackers."

"Oh. Oh. Ah, okay, sure."

He turns around.

Mistake number one.

Mistake number last.

The prick of the syringe is quick, fast, unexpected and effective.

"Natasha!"

She swears mentally as the Hulk and the rest of the team burst in, eyes focused on the prone figure in her arms.

"They did terrible things." she said, her voice hoarse.

Eyes sweeping over the two, the team quickly believes her.

Thor takes Stark and flies off to seek medical help.

She knows it's hopeless.

She knows the drug is undetectable.

She'll be safe.

But with Dr Banner and JARVIS…

Her heart throbs for some unknown reason.

Well, she'll have to complete her mission before that.

As she walks past the archer, he frowns at her, as though detecting something wrong.

He grabs her wrist and she nearly grabs his neck.

"Hey." he says, staring into her eyes.

She stares back.

"I know it's bad, but don't go back there, okay? We're all here for you. You sure you're fine?"

She nods, the intimacy of it all numbing her.

"I'm sorry, but Fury says this is important. I have to leave right away. You sure you're fine?"

She nods again.

* * *

"I insist." he says, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sure they did terrible, terrible things. You need to get checked out."

"He's right," Captain America chips in. "You were pretty roughed up. I know this is painful, but sometimes you do need help."

The sheer amount of care was going to suffocate her.

"Fine," she says, biting her lip, putting just enough emotion into her eyes. "But I want JARVIS disabled on that floor. With Stark...unavailable...I can't risk this leaking out."

The Captain accepts this soon enough.

But the archer is not so easily convinced.

"You never give in so easily." he murmurs.

She swivels around and glares at him.

"You don't know what it was like, Barton." she hisses. "I...I just don't want to fight anymore, not here, not with you guys. Apologies if you can't accept that."

He looks suitably chastised as the others glare at him.

The doctor gets up. "Come on. Let's get this done."

* * *

She sits on the cold examination table, the layout reminding her of a morgue.

She doesn't remember when she's ever been in one though…

Images of a one-eyed man lying dead on a metal bench flood her mind, but she quickly pushes them away.

Must be some kind of hallucination from getting knocked out.

"So, how're you feeling?"

She shrugs.

"Good?"

He sighs.

"Any broken bones? Dislocations? Internal bleeding? Gashes, scratches, whatever?"

He goes behind her, and as she tenses, slowly unbuttons the examination gown and gasps when he sees the burn marks.

"Hot poker?" he asks, face grim.

So, another thing they did.

"Yeah,"

He tuts as he cleans the wounds before applying salve and bandaging them up.

She practically feels the frown as he runs his fingers gently over deep cuts and scratches.

"They'd make you bleed out if you were a normal person." he mutters. "They'll need stitches. And no vigorous movement in the area. Though I doubt you'd stick to that."

He gives an awkward chuckle as he turns around to pick up some supplies.

She considers sedating him then, but he, like any other scared cowardly creature, does not keep his back turned for long.

It is only a split second before he faces her again, tools in hand.

"Lie down there, will you?" he says, gesturing to the table.

She involuntary shudders, reminded of tortures and mind wipes and...wait...when did those happen? Must be what they did to her, to try to turn her against her true allies.

He is an observant person, and he sees the reaction, the message loud and clear.

"I'm sorry." he says sheepishly. "You can stand if you want to, but it'll be more comfortable…"

"It's alright." she says, cutting him off.

"No, no. It really isn't." he says, even going so far as to stand between her and the table.

"Please," he says, gesturing to a small platform.

She stands on top of the platform.

For some reason she doesn't shudder when she turns.

The job is methodical, something both of them have done too many times.

Somehow, at that realisation, something inside her thuds.

* * *

She jumps when a hand gently pats her right shoulder.

"Um, sorry, I forgot you don't like body contact." the Captain says.

"It's alright."

She feels strange, saying that so many times.

"So, how are you?"

"Why is everyone asking me that? I'm fine."

"I hate to say this, but it's pretty obvious you aren't."

"Why ask, then?"

"Well, I guess we're all trying to give you space and wait till you tell us on your own terms."

"Thanks…?"

His smile triggers some sort of reaction inside her. Her stance and eyes seem less guarded.

Which she fixes immediately.

"Anyways, I thought you'd be interested to hear the reports on Tony."

This catches her attention.

"Preliminary screens and examinations show nothing. Bruce is still running further tests. He thinks it's some kind of new, experimental drug. But just to be safe he has Thor looking into runes and magic."

So nothing to worry about. If the doctor is fishing around for answers without a clear target in mind, he won't find anything.

Still, he is not to be underestimated.

"Hey, don't worry too much." the captain says with a (dare she say soft?) smile. "No one blames you, least of all Tony. It's not your fault."

"It was something I could have foreseen."

"Life is full of possibilities, Natasha. We just...tend to attract the close to impossible scenarios."

He coughs and turns to leave.

"I'll just...leave you to yourself then. Call if you need anything."

She takes advantage of the fact that JARVIS is still disabled on the floor and quickly injects him along with a stun from her Widow's bite strong enough to knock out an elephant.

He spins around with a shocked look and a punch flying straight at her.

She easily dodges and strikes back, three solid punches to his head, as the drug and stun both kick in and he falls down.

She injects him again with a sedative.

She isn't taking any chances.

Making sure he really is unconscious, Natasha ties him up, and inserts a needle linked to an IV bag filled with narcotic fluids.

Then she drags the body to a storage closet and locks it up.

* * *

"It's all set. He's bought a one way ticket to Calcutta."

"Good." she mumbles into the microphone , heading down.

"Bruce." she says, stopping him at the door. "Where are you going?"

He jumps, then sheepishly lifts up his luggage and runs a hand through his hair.

"Back to Calcutta." he says. "The last time I was there, well, I got injured a few times, and someone I know there told me the Indian government has gotten their hands on some of my blood."

"You need help?"

"No, no." he says quickly. "I mean, I don't doubt your ability, but it's kind of a personal issue. Something I have to deal with myself. Red in the ledger."

"I understand." she replies, giving a small smile.

And she feels, somehow, that she really does.

Images of fire and sounds of a girl screaming suddenly flash in her mind. She shudders, not knowing where they came from.

He grimaces.

"I'm sorry...to have reminded you of the past."

"It's alright."

* * *

"Thor."

The Asgardian is more than surprised to see the Goddess of War standing in his-Jane's apartment.

"Sif!" he exclaims, welcoming her with a hug. "What brings you here? Not that I don't want to see you, of course."

At that, her expression turns grim.

"Heimdall saw something. He said-"

"Are my friends alright? What has happened to them in my absence?"

"He said that one of your teammates, the Avengers I believe, is currently hunting down and harming her other teammates. The one you call...Black Widow I believe?"

"What? Natasha would never do that! And forgive me for saying this, but, I do not believe she will be able to overcome all of them!"

"Heimdall says her mind is clouded. But he cannot tell what it is. She is one who operates with trickery and deceit, Thor, I wish not to see you succumb to her charms."

"Natasha isn't who you make her out to be, Sif! You haven't even seen her before!"

"I've heard enough to see the similarity between her and another."

That stung, and they both know it was too much.

"Apologies." Sif apologises after a few seconds of silence. "I didn't meant to compare her to…"

"No." Thor says abruptly, turning to leave. "My friends need me."

* * *

"Widow, Thor incoming, ETA two minutes."

She slants her head to the right slightly, indicating that she has received the message.

She knows...well, _highly suspects_ that the Asgardian has been warned by his friends up there.

It doesn't matter. She has her way of getting things done.

His entrance is anything but subtle, as the glass window next to her shatters and he lands with a loud boom, with accompanying thunder.

She leaps back-just out of swinging distance-and turns and runs.

"I do not wish you fight you, Lady Natasha." his loud voice booms. "But I will if you force my hand!"

She flings two bombs at the floor and leaps through the resulting hole.

Thor follows her into her floor.

She presses a button on her sleeve and laser start firing at the Thunder God.

"What is this madness, Natasha?!" he exclaims, throwing his hammer at the weapons. "Do you not remember your friends? What have you done to the Captain?"

"What makes you think I've done anything?" she fires back. "You are the one barging in and trying to kill me!"

"No, Natasha. I wish not to harm you-"

She turns back and fires at him, drawing blood.

He curses.

"So be it then."

At the press of a button, a steel maze rises up from the ground, separating the two.

She runs, dodging left and right in a maze she knows Thor will not be able to fit.

More curses.

Electricity buzzes along the metal walls, and rays of lighting shoot straight at her.

One hits her elbow.

It hurts like hell, and she's pretty sure it's fried, but she keeps running.

Somehow she remembers she once felt a similar burn…

The telltale whoosh signals when the hammer is coming.

She blows up some walls, and arrives at a secret place which even Stark does not know about.

It was wrong of him to uninstall JARVIS from her floor.

She presses another button and ducks at the last moment, then quickly presses it again.

Then she ducks up into the vents.

The Asgardian curses yet again when he finds that he cannot retrieve his hammer.

Well, it _was_ a Hulk containment cell after all.

"Where are you, Natasha? What trickery is this?"

He angrily smashes his hand against the cell but it doesn't budge.

It _was_ built to contain a Hulk.

She presses a button, and the door of the cell opens to reveal the hammer trapped in a smaller cell inside.

Thor rushes in.

She presses the button again and a heave of expletives come out, along with a lot of smashing and banging.

Another button and knockout gas, thrice as concentrated as military use ones, floods the cell.

* * *

She knows JARVIS will be suspicious and alert SHIELD.

Luckily, she is able to throw electricity charge at the servers from the vents (Clint was great at disabling monitoring systems there) and take down the servers.

Just to be safe, she disables every camera and sensor she can find.

Then, she turn on her own laptop and starts to track the archer.

He is hopefully unaware of the trackers she inserted into his bloodstream when she helped stitch him up.

The computer screen shows a blinking dot on a map after a few minutes of processing.

Of all places, he is in a field in Iowa.

Iowa. Where he was born.

Checking satellite images, she finds that the field houses an abandoned circus.

The message is clear.

 _I know what you're doing. Come try and fight me on my own turf._

She is somewhat surprised that he didn't stop her before all this.

* * *

She knows it's a trap, but she goes anyways.

But before she does, she talks to a little someone. And takes him along, too.

She is surprised he didn't blow up the jet when she landed.

Well, his loss, her gain.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, she injects most of a syringe into herself.

Once she steps out, she finds the business ends of an arrow and a gun pointed at her.

"Director. Agent."

"Hands where I can see them."

"Seeing as you still haven't shot me, I cannot comprehend why you have chosen this course of action."

She foresees the pull of the trigger and injects the remaining portion into her blood.

She falls just as the bang sounds.

She closes her eyes and listens.

She feels the telltale prick on her skin, unknowingly counteracted, of course.

She feels the archer put a hand on her throat-at that she nearly convulsed-and she hears the Director shot a warning.

"Step back! You don't know if she's faking it!"

Hmm. Wise man.

The archer ignores him anyway.

Seconds tick by and the archer becomes increasingly worried, as he frantically searches for a pulse.

Half a minute later the Director joins in.

They find none.

"What the heck, Fury?!" the archer explodes.

"She was volatile, Barton."

"I know that! I also know that you only meant to knock her out, so what the hell happened?!"

"Barton, let's take this inside."

"Fury, you and I both know something's seriously wrong!"

She feels herself being dragged back into the jet.

"For all I know, this could be a technical error."

"The hell it is! Stop trying to deny it. You and I both know the strict set of lab procedures and _triple_ checking. If something went wrong, then something big really went wrong!"

He was never good at language…

The thought is quickly pushed to the back of her mind. She seems to be having quite the number of flashbacks lately.

She hears a new set of footsteps and an angry woman.

"Sir." comes the cold voice of the Assistant Director.

"Hill." he acknowledges.

She feels her stare.

It is a few seconds of silence before the Assistant Director asks, "What happened?"

Clint scoffs.

"Fury here shot Nat with some kind of sedative which isn't really a sedative seeing Nat here is _dead_."

She hears a soft rustle before the Director speaks.

"I checked."

Another rustle.

"What are your next orders?"

"Wait, wait. Fury just accidentally killed Nat with something he thought would only knock her out and all you're concerned about is orders? Hell, for all we know the lab's compromised. The factories are compromised. The only person who knows where the other Avengers are is dead."

"What's past is past. No one can change that."

"If you think I'm going along with something I know nothing about then you must be crazy."

"There's much more at stake here."

"Than SHIELD being compromised? Look. One problem at a time, okay? We have to deal with...this first."

Suddenly, her head is roughly grabbed and slammed onto the floor of the jet.

Everything really goes black.

When she wakes up, she is strapped to a bed hooked up to numerous machines.

Her teammates sit there watching her, all with different injuries.

She groans as everything comes back.

"I'm going to kill the bastard."

The door slams open.

Unconsciously, Barton's hand goes to his sidearm and Steve reaches for his shield.

"Romanoff." Fury says, his eye twitching.

"Sir."

"I expected more."

He sighs and turns. "Meeting room A. Twenty minutes."

Once the trailing agent shuts the door, the group relaxes.

"Count me in." Barton says with a smile.

"Count all of us in." Steve says.

At that, she freezes.

"Don't worry. We all love you, Nat."

"What Stark here means is that we all consider you a comrade and friend. And we will help each other."

He wakes up tied to a chair as the water rises up.

It's inhumane, listening to the screams like one admires music, but her soul was long gone.

The world is a really dark place.


End file.
